Thursday

I thought it was Friday all day…so confused. 

Whatever, Thursday means The Office, so it’s all good.

5 AM.  Frothed me some coffee…and then I was off to work!

Since I was running crazy late, I had this little baby on the way to work.  For the record, I do NOT enjoy eating on the subway, especially when I’m drenched from my rainy mad dash to the station.

 

As usual, I made my lunch the night before to bring to work, which included a hugh jass salad of spinach, brocc slaw, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, snow peas, sprouts, dried cranz (Newman’s Own – holla!) and seaweed/sesame salad. 

Other yummies: Berries GoMega odwalla bar, apple, and Newman’s Own dried apples.

Notice a few newbies?  I thought I’d mix it up on you guys!

Newman’s Own organic dried apples are SO good.  Obviously I’m not shy about my love for dried fruit…and up until this point, dried apples weren’t exactly in my fave five.  But dates, pineapples, figs, and papaya spears should def watch their back(s). 

By the way, you may have noticed something missing from these last two posts…(Starbucks)

Yes, I successfully made it through my ENTIRE 12+ hour shift today without giving in to the seductive siren’s sweet sweet song. 

Just as I got off work, Kyle called. 

Since I told him yesterday to force me to go to the gym after work, no matter how much I begged and pleaded otherwise, or tried to weasel my way out of it...he wasn’t allowed to cave!  I needed to exercise.  It’s been over a WEEK people, clearly outside help is necessary!! 

Sure enough, in my exhausted state, I begged him to let me off the hook.  And like the wonderful fiancé he is, he didn’t give in!  I knew there was a reason…never mind.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped and the skies were semi clear, so we decided to take advantage and ran along Riverside Drive.  I think it was only 3.5 – 4 miles, but still, it felt GREAT.  I haven’t really exercised since the half marathon, and it’s weird (sad) to not have a reason to train.  Anyone else experienced this post-race let down phase?

By the time I got home I was hangry.  I cut up some butternut squash and coated them in cinnamon, salt, and a touch of stevia.  

While they were in the oven, I hopped in the shower, and by the time I got out, the most wonderful aroma had filled the apartment. 

Mmmm…

 

BN squash is the best comfort food.  In addition to the squash, I had a mah-jay ensalada mista.  The only reason it could be considered a salad is because there was raw spinach in it.  The main component was a dish I made on the side with shirataki noodles and steamed soy-tein with clover sprouts and spinach. 

I’m a big fan of clover sprouts.  I bought them instead of alfalfa sprouts a few weeks ago, and I haven’t looked back since.  The seed part crunches way more, and I love it.  The only downside is the shelf-life seems a bit shorter.  Still at the rate I go through ‘em, it’s not really an issue.  I add them to EVERYthing. 

 

I tossed the noodle/soy-tein mix in with more spinach, carrots, broccoli slaw, and voila!  Perfection.  I had a POM wonderful with my din-din, too.  I’m hooked on these. 

While watching The Office I polished off the last of my hermits   :(  Good thing I still have the cinnamon ones!

I guess that run really got my appetite going…

Bowl of fruity goodness.

Apples, kiwi, and berries galore (including strawbeezies, raspies, blackbizzles, and bluebz). 

Off to catch some zzzzzs. 

E-Claire out.

back on the bike

Ok.  I have been slacking FAR too much in the work out department.  I have a freakin’ half marathon in a week!  What am I doing to myself?  I should be training, not watching the View working and pretending that’s a good enough reason to skip the gym.

I woke up to sun, FINALLY.  Made some java.  Frothed some leche.

Voila!

Prepare to see an endless supply of bridal mags in the background of all my pics now…my future mother-in-law got me a year’s subscription :)

I was researching wedding locations all morning, and totally lost track of time.  For a late brunch/lunch I had home-made hummus on toasted english muffins.

Oh man.  Hummus is like a drug.  Yeah K?

And don’t even get me started on english muffins!  Mmm…so amazing…like warm, fluffy magical carby heaven.  In the words of Carrie Bradshaw “me likey.”

I have been really craving seitan around the clock lately, so later on I made some “eggs” and seitan on the grill.  Protein, yes please.

For those who asked Qs on my last post about the BBQ seitan, it’s definitely a must-try…just lather on the ‘cue sauce before cooking the seitan.  It’s hard to mess it up.

Anyways, the home-made hummus was calling my name (again) and we all know I cannot resist her charms…so I had a teensy bit more.

Mmmm…

Coconut date rolls for lunch dessert.

 

For dinner I decided to get in my daily greens. 

Challenge schmallenge.  Bring it.

I threw a few fists of spinach in the skillet along with some broccoli, cauliflower, green peas, and some soy sauce. 

In another pot I threw together soy noodles, soy-tein (texturized protein) and spinach.

I loved this meal SO much I took about 500 pictures…

Check out all the goodness that is in this salad…I want this every night now for the rest of my life. 

There is just so much variety, I couldn’t get enough.  Each bite had a new flavor because of all the different ingredients.  Eat your heart out salad challenge!

Mmmmm.  Food porn.

Think I liked it or something…here’s the second helping!  HA!!

You would think I’d be full after all that food, but you’d be wrong!

NEW PRODUCT ALERT!!!

I had no idea what to expect.  I guess these are the random kinds of things you come home with when you go grocery shopping while PMSing.  Naturally, like the experienced female that I am, I avoided the frozen dessert aisle like the plague…but, next thing I know I am face to face with chocolate IN THE TOFU SECTION and in a moment of weakness, I pounced. 

Lucky for me, it is relatively healthy.  Here are the stats (per 1/2 cup):

calories	120
total fat	1.5 g (2%)
saturated fat	0 g
cholesterol	0 mg
sodium	45 mg
total carbohydrates	23 g (8%)
fiber	1 g (4%)
sugar	18 g
protein	3 g

**not too shabby huh?

Ok, it looks a little weird, I’ll admit.  BUT – holy freakin’ YUM!

It’s like the best pudding EVER.  I had 4/5 of the container plain…and could barely restrain myself from polishing the entire thing off.  Today’s meals are clearly sending me through the roof.  Try this immediately, you won’t regret it.  In fact, it could be your next obsession (it will likely be mine).

Before I go - HangryPants is giving away yumminess, so check it out!

I.M.Healthy

I woke up to another day of ick weather.  It’s so hard to get excited for the day when you know it’s going to be spent mostly indoors. 

But then I found a surprise PACKAGE at the door!!!  What could it be…??

The wonderful people over at I.M. Healthy sent me my FAVE soynut butter, both creamy AND chocolate flavors!  I LOVE this stuff!!  Since you all have been asking about soynut butter, now you can see this amazing product, and go out and get it, to try it first hand.  It’s the perfect combination of salty and sweet.  It tastes exactly like ground up soynuts with a smooth and creamy texture – it just doesn’t compare to any other nut butters, and I’ve had extensive experience!!  Trust me, this stuff needs to be in your pantry, like, now!

So brekkie was an obvious choice.  Alvarado street bread toasted with creamy soynut butter.  I can’t wait to try the chocolate.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!

I had a second brunch type meal later on (I don’t know why I bother labeling meals).  I guess since it was before noon, I couldn’t call it lunch.  Vanilla o’soy and 2 coconut date rolls with my coffee.

“Lunch” was kinda weird.  I wasn’t overly hungry, and I didn’t feel like making anything, so it turned into a snacky afternoon as I did errands around the apt (I apologize for the randomness in advance).  First, I had leftover veggies.

Followed by spoonfuls of hummus (you read that correctly).  Sabra is so tasty, sometimes you don’t need anything to dip in it, ya know?  As for the pretz…I TOTALLY dipped these in soynut butter!!!  Haha!

And later I made myself a dried fruit plate with papaya spears and pineapple.

Finally I got my act together and headed to the gym. 

GYM stats: elliptical 30 min, tread mill 30 min, elliptical 30 min, abs/arms/stretching 20 min  (I had a mega high from all those endorphins as I headed home)

**special shout out to Adrianna for the Ting Ting music rec, I’ve been trying to find that artist forEVER – thanks loveee

Dinner was an asian inspired noodle/veggie/tofu dish.

Tofu blocks baked with soy sauce.

Steamed edamame.

Steamed shrooms.

Steamed broccoli slaw.

Soy noodles.

All mixed up together – doesn’t it look YUM!  I drizzled a little bit of teriyaki sauce on top.  I def have un monton de leftovers.

Dessert?  Duh.  Dried dates and carob covered raisins (I de-pitted and stuffed because it’s just so much more fun that way)!! 

Note: After I finished this plate, I made myself another platter (unpictured) because I have no self control because the first one was out of this world.  AND I opened up the chocolate I.M.Healthy soynut butter for my first taste (I just couldn’t resist trying it out!!!).  I’ll save the full review for tomorrow, but HOLY YUM!  I was in sweet tooth heaven – my desserts will NEVER be the same again!  The creamy, smooth, salty, sweet, buttery texture was divine, but I def gulped down what felt like a gallon of soymilk.  This product is like a nut butter lover’s mecca (oh, and fyi, the chocolate soynut butter has no dairy).  Needless to say, I headed to bed ridiculously full, but quite pleased about my new dessert discovery. 

Who’s done with taxes?!  I am, I am!  (One of the few remaining perks of having a BF in finance) – that comment is in reference to our crap economy, NOT Kyle’s skillz! 

I smell like Mucomyst

And it’s NOT pretty…it may be the worst smell ever.

No.  It’s definitely the worst smell ever.  Yep, I just conducted a study.  9 out of 10 researchers agreed with me (I think the 10th guy was sleeping with the drug rep). 

I may be off “egg” products for a while because of this…

Lunch

Same sammie as ayer (bell pepps, “turkey,” greek yog, and hummus)

Plus the usual side-kicks, along with a NEWBIE (and new obsession).  Dude, figs and carob covered raisins = heaven.  Holy yum, talk about a party in my mouth!!  I like eating them at the same time, it’s, like, THE best.

Naturally a liter of Starbucks’ coffee made it’s way in there (12 hour shifts demand it, so I don’t feel remotely guilty).  .

Dinner.

Tofu, fresh edamame, fresh steamed brocc, frozen veggies, shirataki soy noodles.  In bulk.

Can you believe I took this pic only half way through?!  I was getting super full and the end was no where in sight…but of course I finished it.  Duh!?!  It looks yummy, huh :)

I was surprisingly stuffed after this.  I made a cup of tea with silk.

Obviously the entrepreneur mag is not mine…but the greenbox article was cool.  Hooray for being green!

Did I say I was too full for dessert?  Riiiiiight.  Coconut date rolls, figs, carob covered raisins…and more tea.  I think this was the first platter, but there were quite a few, so it’s hard to keep track. 

Time to shower.  This may have been one of the most necessary showers of my life. 

back to BRRR

Cheers to 2009, but jeers to leaving home to return to snow. I packed a TON of plane food the night before (the LAST thing I want is to be stranded/delayed in an airport without food options).

With the other end piece of the Alfaro's bread, the rest of the veggie cheddar shreds, mushrooms, and a fresh, organic tomato, I made a pretty gourmet sando.

Check it out!

It turned into a monster as I was making it, so it's a good thing the bread is SUPER thick to hold all that stuff in. DAYAM!

Also included in the plane snack pack: dried cranberries, edamame, 2 apples, fresh medjool dates, and a spiced chai tea bag. I know, I know. It's a bit much for one flight...but better to be safe than sorry!

My dad drove me to the airport at the crack of dawn, and I was at the gate by 6:30. Unfortunately, the fog was SO thick and dense that we couldn't take off as planned (told ya delays were inevitable)...we were on stand by until the visibility improved to at least half a mile, which ended up being about an hour.

So I got a Starbucks to hold me over while I waited to board. Short coffee with vanilla SILK soy milk :) This really helped warm me up AND wake me up.

On the flight I polished off my sando, one apple, lots of dates, and several bottles of water. After the flight I raced to get into Manhattan asap. Being around Times Square on New Year's Eve was a scene I desperately wanted to avoid.

Okay. Now let me just say, I was prepared for bad weather, in fact I thought I was ready for the snow, but I was freakin' STUPEFIED once I arrived at the LIRR platform. Snow was screaming through my coat, my hood wouldn't even stay on when I tried to hold it because the wind was too strong, and tears were streaming from my eyes - basically it was a miracle I even got on the right train! I couldn't feel my fingers so clearly I couldn't buy a ticket at the kiosk. I am pretty sure I ended up paying 200% what the ticket actually cost on board the train. Whatever. So worth not getting frost bite. I managed to get home by 8 pm, just in time to make some din-din.

My fridge was on the barren side, but lookie what I managed to scrounge up.

I threw the soy noodles in a pot...

heated up the edamame...

and chopped up the tofu.

Here's bowl #1 (with a dash of low Na+ soy sauce).

Not too shabby for a last minute, post-flight meal. It was so good that I made myself a second bowl, finishing off the rest of the ingreds...

I had a BIG time hankering for some sweets, though. Good thing I had some vegan choc pudding left over - saaweeeet :)

Yum Yum Yum. New Year's celebration in my mouth!

This set off a chain of wild and uncontrollable CHOCOLATE urges. I pretty much devoured the rest of the choc sorbet (about 2/3 of the container).

I added soy milk on some sorbet filled mugs...DE-lish!

Empty container = sad

I stayed up til midnight (East Coast time) to ring in 2009 watching my (other) lover, Anderson Cooper, on CNN - then I called K and my parents before I headed to bed (with my pleasantly full tummy).

Work tomorrow - BOO!

feliz ano nuevo!